Grace VanSlooten fueled a big third quarter for the Michigan State women’s basketball team.
And her contributions helped the No. 22-ranked Spartans win on the road for the first time in Big Ten play with their 70-60 victory over Rutgers on Wednesday night.
VanSlooten had eight points in a third quarter in which the Spartans outscored the Scarlet Knights 22-13 to take control after the teams were tied at 33 at halftime.
The game was tied at 43 with 3:44 to play in the third when VanSlooten kicked off a 12-3 run to end the quarter by making a pair of free throws and then converting an offensive rebound for a basket. Nyla Hampton, Jaddan Simmons and Theryn Hallock also scored during the run. Hallock capped the quarter with a basket just before time expired that gave MSU (14-3, 4-2 Big Ten) at the time its largest lead of the game at 55-46.
“That really changed the game for us,” MSU coach Robyn Fralick said. “I thought the end of the third quarter was really the turning point in the game. We got some stops. We got a layup right at the buzzer. I thought we got a lot of momentum out of it.”
The Spartans extended their lead to as much as 14 in the middle stages of the final quarter while handing Rutgers (8-10, 0-7) a sixth straight loss.
VanSlooten finished with 11 points and six rebounds and was one of three players to score in double figures for the Spartans, who shot just 38% from the field.
Julia Ayrault and Emma Shumate each had 12 points to lead the Spartans. Shumate did all her scoring in the first half and matched a season-high in points. She scored in double figures for the second time this season and the first time since Dec. 8 against DePaul.
The early offense from Shumate was key for the Spartans, who shot just 36.1% (13 of 36) in the opening half. Shumate knocked down 4 of 7 shots from the field in the first half for MSU.
Destiny Adams had a game-high 15 points before fouling out for Rutgers, which shot 35.1% and committed 22 turnovers.
“I thought we defended,” Fralick said. :I thought we kind of buckled in and did a better job of that as the game went on. We made enough plays. In a night where things weren’t necessarily just firing on all cylinders, we found a way to win.”
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State women’s basketball tops Rutgers for second win in row
